Soledad O'Brien Challenges GOP: Do Minorities 'Know You and They Decided They Don't Like You?'

CNN's Soledad O'Brien, well known for her documentaries on race "Latino
In America" and "Black In America," questioned the GOP's credibility
among minority voters on Friday's Starting Point.

Quoting an RNC committeeman who said minority voters and the youth vote
"simply don't know" the GOP, O'Brien asked former RNC chair Mel
Martinez "is it that they don't know you? Meaning you as the GOP. Or is that they know you and they decided they don't like you?"

Martinez acknowledged a "communication gap," but O'Brien tried to get
him to admit the GOP needs to move its policy leftward: "on some other
things that you might say are core to the GOP message, I think you're
going to have a challenge."

O'Brien cited poll numbers with the majority of recipients opposing GOP
policies. "So isn't – does that mean that you take the assessment and
then you change policy potentially?" she pressed Martinez.

A transcript of the segment, which aired on Starting Point on January 25 at 8:08 a.m. EST, is as follows:

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: There's a web site we are now requesting feedback and
recommendations. Walk me through how that will go, and what kinds of
feedback you're getting and then how you take that and turn that into
some real change.

MEL MARTINEZ (R-Fla), former U.S. senator: Well, I think first of all
there's a great reassessment taking place within the party and I think
that's very, very healthy. I thought the governor's speech last night
was very much on point, but I think the entire tenor of this meeting is
one in which we're taking a deep look inside, and I think that's a
terrific thing to do.

I'm really quite encouraged, not only by the web site and the fact that
we're reaching out to people to input, because I think we've lost the
ability to communicate well and I think that's a beginning. But I think
also this group that has been impaneled, including someone from Florida
that I know very well, Sally Bradshaw and Ari Fleischer. I think these
are terrific people and I think they will lead a reassessment of where
our party needs to go going forward from a political standpoint.

O'BRIEN: There's a guy named –

MARTINEZ: You know I think there's other things –

O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting. There's a guy named Glenn
McCall. And he's a South Carolina committeeman. And this is what he
said, and I'll have you to weigh in on what you think. He said, "There
are large portions of the population – African- Americans, Hispanics,
Asians, young voters – who simply don't know us. We have to change
that." And my question for you would be: is it that they don't know you?
Meaning you as the GOP. Or is that they know you and they decided they
don't like you?

MARTINEZ: Look, I think that there's a communication gap and I think
that our party has done a poor job of reaching out to these particular
groups. And I think this is about communicating our message.

But, no, I find particularly among Hispanics, which is a subset of that
I know best, that there's not a rejection of ideas like
entrepreneurship or economic growth or a government that is not so
intrusive, or concerns about schools that don't work and want to see an
educational system that really works for all children. These are very
constant themes, and entrepreneurship, as you well know Soledad, is a
very strong value within our Hispanic community. These are very
Republican values.

O'BRIEN: Yeah, there are some other things, though, that are not. I
mean, can I show the poll? Because I think you're right. I think the
things that you've ticked off, there's no question, but on some other
things that you might say are core to the GOP message, I think you're
going to have a challenge. For example, taxes, right? When you actually
poll people, you see 69 percent say they favor raising the tax rate on
people $250,000 and higher. And I think that that was obviously a big
sticking point for people in the GOP. Also, if you take a look at, there
was a question reduce government programs for people like you, 48
percent, nearly half peoplen and more than those who favored it, said,
no, they would oppose reducing government programs. And obviously lots
of conversations with the GOP about the size of government. So, isn't --
does that mean that you take the assessment and then you change policy
potentially?

MARTINEZ: No, I don't think you change principles, but I think you
change the conversation. We shouldn't be talking about protecting the
wealthy from raising taxes. We should be talking about a tax code that
promotes economic growth, and that lifts all boats. A tax code that is
fair for everyone and that promotes economic growth, it's going to
create more jobs, it's going to create better jobs. It's going to allow
people to move into the middle class.

So, the bottom line is that it's about taxes, it's about an overbearing
government but it's really about how we communicate it. Are we really
for protecting a certain segment of taxpayers or are we really looking
to have a tax code that really promotes economic growth? There's a great
history in our party of people like a Jack Kemp who knew how to speak
to folks in a way that was really understandable and that reached every
man. And I think that's what we've got to get back to, is that kind of
rhetoric, that kind of conversation that really reaches people where
they live. That it's about jobs, it's about opportunity, it's about the
rising of the American dream.

O'BRIEN: Senator Mel Martinez, former RNC chairman and also former
Florida senator – nice to see you, sir, as always. Thanks for talking
with us. Appreciate it.

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